The iOS 18 accessibility features Apple unveiled yesterday were called “life-changing”; disability campaigner.
Accessibility advocate Colin Hughes praised Apple for responding to a key request he made through 9to5Mac back in March …
Call for personalized speech recognition
Earlier this year Hughes told us that many disabilities affect speech clarity, meaning that conditions such as cerebral palsy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and muscular dystrophy can make it difficult to use voice commands through Siri and voice control. The same is true for those recovering from a stroke.
This creates a disadvantage for those who most need voice commands and have the most difficulty understanding them on Apple devices.
He suggested that Apple offer a personalized speech recognition feature.
One of the key ways AI can improve voice control is through personalized speech recognition. This feature can help people with non-standard speech, which means they may have difficulty explaining things. AI can learn to recognize and transcribe one's speech more accurately and naturally, regardless of factors affecting speech such as a weak voice, speech problems, difficulty breathing, or muscle disorders. Google estimates that 250 million people speak differently.
Apple now offers just that
Yesterday, Apple's iOS 18 accessibility announcements included exactly this feature.
With Vocal Shortcuts, iPhone and iPad users can assign custom utterances that Siri can understand to launch shortcuts and complete complex tasks.
Atypical Speech Listening, another new feature, gives users the ability to improve speech recognition for a wider range of speech. Hear Atypical Speech uses on-device machine learning to recognize a user's speech patterns.
Tailored for users with acquired or progressive conditions that affect speech, such as cerebral palsy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or stroke . These features provide a new level of customization and control, building on the features introduced in iOS 17 for users who don't speak or are at risk of losing the ability to speak.
Hughes said these changes will likely change life of people with such diseases.
I'm one of the millions of people who need the benefits of voice control the most, but because My atypical speech can sometimes be difficult to communicate using Siri and voice control.
The set of voice accessibility improvements announced yesterday is the biggest breakthrough I've seen to date, and I'm very grateful that Apple listened.
These changes will literally change my life and the lives of others facing the same problems.
Advanced voice control is also key
Hughes also warmly welcomed advanced voice control, saying he has long been an advocate for it. It's especially difficult to get Apple devices to understand unusual terms (such as equipment that people with disabilities might need), so support for complex words and custom vocabulary is huge.
This improvement is a game changer for those whose speech includes unique or complex terminology.
I'm in on the champagne and I'm so glad that Apple has listened and has taken significant steps to make voice recognition technology accessible to everyone.
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Image: 9to5Mac
